June, 1958. P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y Page Five In Honour of Professor Raymond Arthur Dart A N INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF M A N IN AFRICA By PH IL L IP V. TOBIAS. Chairman, Committee to establish an Institute fo r the Study o f M an in Africa. Few readers o f this Journal will not know something about Professor R . A. D a rt who has held the C hair of Anatomy at the University o f the W itwatersrand for 35 years. T h e r e will be some who will have known him as professor and dean, anatom ist and anthropologist, teacher and ad­ ministrator; while others will no doubt have appreciated him as leader and pioneer, prophet and prehistorian, soldier and actor, support o f the lame duck—literally and figura- tively—, councellor and friend. W hen he retires from the university staff at the end o f 1958, physiotherapists will undoubtedly be at one with the medical and associated medical professions in experiencing a sense o f loss and in wishing him many years o f healthful, happy retirement. It would fill m any pages o f this Journal to sketch, even *in outline, all th a t the medical, dental and associated pro­ fessions owe to him in South Afroca. But members o f the South African Society o f Physiotherapy will need no re­ minding o f the large p art Professor D a rt played in initiating and shaping the first South African academic courses in Physiotherapy. Perhaps, however, one may refer here to the stim ulation Professor D a rt has given to great numbers of his colleagues and the students who have passed through his hands. I t is as a m aker o f men th at he gave his finest gift to a young country: in which the medical, dental and nursing professions were budding and those o f physiotherapy and occupational therapy not yet conceived; in which research was emerging from its cocoon and, in which the immense fruits o f th e sub-continent were awaiting the fertilizing impacts, not only o f practitioners and scientists from abroad, but of our own graduates, equipped and inspired to prom ote the advancement o f knowledge. Among the m em bers and research students o f his depart­ ment, who have subsequently achieved distinction, may be mentioned the late D r. G ordon Laing, the late Professor L. R . Shore, Professors Alexander Galloway and Lawrence H. Wells, the three G ear brothers, Professors Joseph and Theodore G illman, D r. J. S. Weiner, D r. G . W. H . Schepers, D r. Tillie D reyer, and Professor J. C. M iddleton Shaw. The first D ental Faculty in South Africa stems directly from D art’s appointm ent o f Professor Shaw as a Senior Lecturer in Comparative O dontology in the D epartm ent o f Anatomy. It is with such thoughts in mind th a t a group o f medical tend dental men, past and present students o f Professor 'D art, have conceived the idea o f com m em orating his work by the proposed establishm ent o f an Institute for the Study o f M an in Africa. Objectives of Institute. Briefly, the objectives would be as follows:— Primarily, the Institute would aim to advance the study of the living peoples o f Africa in health and disease. This would embrace the bodily structure, function and pathology; diet and n utrition; tropical diseases and other medical problems; physical anthropology, heredity and racial composition; the clim atic adaptations o f man at th e E quator, in the Tropics, and in the Sub-tropics, in the forests, deserts and m ountain regions; dental eruption, attrition and decay. So much for the physical well-being o f the people. This leads on to the psychological and social make-up o f the peoples o f Africa, their attitudes tow ards illness, as part o f their general p attern of cultures, including also art, music and languages, tribal and kinship structure, and population problems. Secondly, the Institute would try to foster the study o f M an’s ancestry in Africa—the fossil men, their evolution and migrations and hybridisations, the anim als and plants and the changing climates associated with them. Included here, too, would be a study o f their way o f life, stone and bone implements, burial customs and artistic creations. South Africa would seem to be ideally situated for the establishment o f a continentaliy-im portant Institute o f this character and, within the U nion, n o better position than Johannesburg could be found. Here, within a narrow radius, are to be found the fossil ape-m an, the Australopithecinae from Sterkfontein, Taungs and M akapansgat; the Bushmen, those living fossils whose straggling rem nants occur at Lake Chrissie to the east and in the K alahari to the west, o f Johannesburg; both ru ral B antu tribes and urbanized, detribalized Africans undergoing acute cultural contacts in their hundreds o f thousands; C oloured and Asian peoples; and W hite South Africans o f varied national origin and all economic brackets. Thereapart, the facilities existing at the University o f the W itwatersrand, b o th m aterial and personal, as well as the program m e o f such researches already being carried out from this institution, would m ake it an obvious choice as the seat o f the proposed Institute.' Nevertheless, although it is proposed th at the Institute be established within the framework o f the University o f the W itwaters­ rand, a cardinal aim w ould be to co-operate fully with and to extend all the Institute’s experience and facilities to, other universities and research institutes which pursue similar research objectives. The Institute w ould thus come to assume a national character, in much the same way as other specialized research institutes at various South African universities. Functions. 1. Research. F rom what has been said, one o f the foundations upon which the Institute would rest should be Research. Twofold in character, research would be b o th in the laboratory on the accum ulated materials, and in the field. It is envisaged that the Institute would prom ote a series o f m ulti-purpose field expeditions, in which the combined efforts o f physical and social anthropologists, linguists and ethno-musicologists, medical and dental scientists, and others, would be pooled. It is to be hoped th a t the establishm ent o f the Institute and the inauguration o f its research programmes would attract many m ore young men and women into these vital fields than is the case a t present. In this way, personnel trained in field survey m ethods would be produced, to the benefit not only o f South Africa, but o f the A frican continent, which is sorely in need o f such investigators everywhere south o f the Sahara. 2. Education Conservation. Aside from research, there are tw o other basic functions o f the Institute, namely Education and Conservation. The educational function w ould be both an intra-m ural one, in in, relation to students and trainees, and extra-m ural, in relation to the public. C onducted tours o f the Museum for high school pupils and other organised groups, recitals o f African music, films am d illustrated talks, would all help to educate the public in the problems o f Africa and her peoples. The possible integration o f the Institute with the proposed civic developments in the B raam fontein area o f Johannesburg might lead the Institute to be seen as a great civic asset, in the fulness o f time to become a national prestige point. 3. Africana Museum. The third function o f the Institute would be to serve as a museum and conservatory for Africana, especially those material objects, weapons and instrum ents, and recordings, which over large areas o f the continent are rapidly vanishing Continued on Page 11. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. ) June, 1958 P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y Page Eleven courses in Biology and Chemistry have been arranged to p r e p a r e them for th e course in Physiology followed by the medical students. A special course in A natom y for the physiotherapy students has been organised. Elem entary physiotherapy Techniques are being taught from the beginning but the students will not start treating patients until the 2nd year. D uring the 2nd and 3rd years lectures in Elementary Pathology, Medicine and Surgery will be given hy members o f the Teaching and C onsultant Staff o f the University and G roote Schuur H ospital. T he examinations like those for m em bership of th e C hartered Society, are to be taken in three parts. P art I will consist o f (a) Chemistry and Biology after 6 m onths; (b) Physics and A natom y a t the end o f the 1st year; and (c) Physiology in the middle of the 2nd year. P art II will be very m uch the same as the Intermediate E xam ination o f the C hartered Society of physiotherapy and will be taken in the middle o f the 3rd year and P art III at the end o f the 3rd year. Modifications will no doubt have to be m ade as the years go by. If the M edical School is able to increase its staff, more special courses in th e basic sciences m ay be arranged. ■ More teachers o f Physiotherapy are urgently required and 'it is hoped that a course for physiotherapists interested in ' teaching will soon be arranged. I shall be more than inter­ ested to hear from anyone already qualified o r who would like to train for a teaching certificate in physiotherapy. Cape Town is a lovely place and its inhabitants are most friendly! In conclusion may I take this opportunity o f thanking the South African Society o f Physiotherapy and the indi­ vidual members who may have sent me good wishes for the future o f the School. I hope th a t ultim ately Cape Town will be m aking a really worthwhile contribution in Physiotherapy not only to South Africa but to the world. B O O K S Physical Medicine Series Edited by Wm. Beaumont, D irector o f Physical Medicine, W estminster H ospital, London. Reidy: PH Y SIC A L M E T H O D S IN PLA STIC SURGERY. 12s. l i d . T onkin: R E S P I R A T O R Y F U N C T I O N M A NA GEM EN T AND D ISEASE C loth, 6s.; Paper, 3s. l i d . G arm any: M U SC L E R ELA XA TION AS AN AID T O PSY C H O T H E R A P Y C loth, 6s.; Paper, 3s. li d . * * * Charlesworth: C H IR O P O D Y Theory and Practice 4th edn. 51s. 9d. T H E B R IT IS H C H IR O P O D Y JO U R N A L Edited by Franklin C harlesworth, F.C h.S. A n independent monthly magazine containing technical articles, news, views. A nnual Sub­ scription, 20s. Free Specimen. Prices include postage. A sk for catalogue * * * THE A C TIN IC PRESS LTD. 54, Victoria Street, London, S .W .l, England. O rder through C.N.A. or other booksellers or direct by money order. N EW PR EM ISE S Medical D istributors (Pty.) L td. o f Johannesburg have moved into m odern an d spacious premises at 252 Jeppe Street, where they are occupying h alf o f the first floor of “ C ape-Y ork,” an imposing new building extending from G old to N ugget Streets. The entrance is on the ground floor (3rd shop from the corner o f G old Street). An attractive staircase, the walls of which are decorated with A rt W ork by E rnest U lm ann, depicting scenes from Medical H istory, takes the visitor up to the modern showroom and offices. All old and new friends o f the firm are cordially invited to inspect the new premises. Parking for visitors will be available in the basement as soon as the building is completed. T he Johannesburg headquarters are under the personal supervision o f Mr. H . J. K retchm er who has been con­ nected with Physiotherapy in South Africa for over 20 years. T he Cape Town Agency o f “ D ism ed” is in the hands o f M r. H . E. Lewy, 216/217 B oston H ouse, Strand Street, who is well know n to all Physiotherapists in the Cape Province. Prof. D art Fund.— Continued fr o m Page 5. before the onslaught o f detribalizing and civilizing influences. These objects, and symbols need to be protected, enshrined and perpetuated, before it is too late. Already several large and valuable collections exist on th e W itwatersrand and the nucleus o f a museum is at hand w ithout much searching for and amassing o f new materials. To give one example: in the D epartm ent o f A natom y at the University o f the W itwatersrand, is a unique collection, built up over 30 years by Professor D a rt and his staff, o f 600 life-masks and 500 death-masks, representing m any African tribes and races from C ape to C airo. A dequately displayed against a background o f regional maps and illustrations, this collection alone would provide a magnificent starting point, to which would be added the collections o f B antu cultural material, musical instruments, A frican music recordings, the skeletons, dental impressions, photographs, fossils and implements, disease an d diet records, and many other categories o f objects. Finally, the museum should serve as a clearing-house for inform ation, statistics and publications on all th e fields which it will handle. Ambitious Project. T he project is an ambitious one, but the organisers believe it is not out o f proportion to the stature o f the men whom it will comm emorate—and certainly, it is in keeping with the magnitude o f the problems of man in Africa. Already the proposal has received the support o f the Medical G radu­ ates’ Association, D ental G raduates, the Convocation, Students’ Representative Council, Students’ D ental and Medical Councils, the O ccupational Therapy. Society, as well as o f a num ber o f professors an d university staff members m ost closely concerned. I am pleased to say th at the C entral Executive Comm ittee o f the S.A. Society o f Physiotherapy has offered its support to the proposed Institute. Fund Raising. As th e first step towards the realization o f this objective, it is proposed to raise a sum o f £10,000 from past and present students and colleagues o f Professor D art. Once this sum is to hand, the appeal will be extended to the large financial trusts and research foundations from whom it is hoped th a t the greater p art o f the funds will be forthcoming. Perhaps one may take advantage of the hospitality o f the Journal’s columns to issue an appeal to physiotherapists throughout South Africa and elsewhere to see this proposed Institute a project w orthy o f their support and to con­ tribute accordingly. Cheques should be m ade payable to the R aym ond D art Institute F u n d and should be sent to the M edical G raduates’ Association, 14a K otze Street, H ospital Hill, Johannesburg. B ankers’ stop order forms are obtainable on request from the same address. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )